After the fact
by blondierandi
Summary: After their last night at La Rosa Negra... Katey has to find a way to move on, with new issues arising, and the want to see Javier again, how will she live on with her life?
1. Final goodbyes

**Jeannie Miller**: You have a choice. You can do nothing. You can hide under the bed...  
**Katey Miller**: Or you can work through the knots.

I have been living by this for my whole life. It was at this moment that I knew that I had to leave Javier. I knew it was not going to be easy, but I had to work through it. The next morning after being crowned King and Queen of La Rosa Negra, we were set to leave. We had all our things packed before we left for the club the night before, and, slowly, we proceeded to the car. We all got in. I would not go and see Javier that morning, as much as I longed to, our schedule would simply not permit it.

We drove by the plaza where I had my first experience with Afro-Cuban dancing. Then the car passed by a familiar street. _Javier's street._ Then I saw him at the gate. _Javier! _"STOP THE CAR!"

"Katey!" protested my mother. The car stopped and I opened the door as fast as I could. "KATEY!"

"Let her go…" my father said to her.

As I got out of the car Javier opened the gate and walked out. I ran into his arms. "I can't do it Javier! I can't just leave!" I began to cry in his shoulder.

"Katey, we promised each other. We told each other there would be no tears." He began to rub my head. He took me into the courtyard, ignoring the car parked in front of his house. Chabe came out and he silently shooed her away with his hand.

I looked into his eyes, those deep brown eyes. "Javi, how am I supposed to believe that we will see each other again…"

"Oh, Katey, you can't think like that. I will see you again. We will dance again." This seemed to calm me. I never knew how he did it, but somehow, he could always calm me. Then he leaned in and we kissed, for our last good-bye. No one had the courage to actually say the words, they hurt too much. Then he released me and we walked to the car. He opened the door and let me get in. Then he stepped aside and watched the car drive away, as he waved, he knew that that would be the last time we would ever see each other and be in each other's arms.


	2. The secret is out first night

Disclaimer: I know I forgot it in the last chapter! None of these characters are mine… Well restricted to Katey Miller, Jeannie Miller, Bert Miller, Suzie Miller, Javier Suarez, Carlos Suarez, Chabe Suarez, Rafael Suarez, Mrs. Suarez, and if I forgot anyone I'll add them later.

A/n I know the last one was really short. Sorry about that. It is my first thingy-ma-babber…STORY!..maybe this one will be longer

It's been four years since Katey left Cuba. Four years, 3 months, and 7 days. A lot has changed for her. She had been kicked out of her house shortly after she got back. Not because of the daring move she did as they were leaving. It was because of the daring move she did on New Year's Eve. That night had some dire consequences.

Katey found out, she was pregnant. The only person she told had been Suzie. She kept it a secret. Then the morning sickness just got worse and worse. Jeannie began to worry. She scheduled an appointment for Katey at the doctor's office, without Katey's knowledge. She sat there in the office waiting for the doctor to be over with the examination. He walked out and whispered something into her ear. She looked at him and then pushed her way into the room.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! It was with that Cuban boy… the one I never approved of, I KNEW that he would pressure you into this. And look he's not here to claim his kids… look who saw this one coming…" she rambled on and on then she stopped and looked at Katey. "It was the night you didn't come home…the night of the revolution!"

Katey looked down absorbing the blows from her mother's wrath. There was nothing she could really do. Her mother came up to her and slapped her. "Are you listening to me? What are people going to think? I can only see them now. 'Oh look there's Jeannie, the horrible mother, who couldn't even keep her oldest daughter from getting KNOCKED UP by a POOR CUBAN POOL BOY!'"

Katey couldn't take this. She could take the abuse only so far. She could not let herself hear her mother talking about Javier that way. Not like that. As her mom went rambling on she slipped out of the room and began walking home. She had mixed emotions. Every morning she woke up thinking about Javier and how she never should have left. Then her common sense would kick in, bringing her back to reality, she had to leave. She had no choice. Now she will have a constant reminder of him. Whether she wanted it or not.

She walked up the stairs of the house and onto the porch when her father came out. He grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards the car. In the background you could hear her mother yelling random things, and glass breaking. When Katey got in the car Suzie came out with a bag full of Katey's things. Her father took them from her and put it in the trunk.

"I grabbed whatever I could. I had a feeling she would find out. I grabbed all the film, the picture, your dresses, and of course your clothes. I didn't want her to burn them."

"Thanks Suzie."

"Suzie go back in the house." Bert said quickly.

"But Daddy, you can't leave me with her."

"Suz, I need you to stay to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

"Daddy…"

"Suzie, please…just do this for me."

"Where will you take her?"

"I don't know, but when I find somewhere I will tell you where it is. Sound good?"

" I guess it will have to."

"Thanks Suzie." He kissed her on her forehead. CRASH. "Okay now go inside." Suzie hurried inside and her father got in the car and started it. They drove away, once they were safe in the next neighborhood, her dad parked the car. He took out the keys and put it in between them and rubbed his eyes. Sigh "Katey, I am not saying that what your mother is doing is right, but because she is your mother, and I must agree to what she is doing…"

"She's kicking me out." She said without even looking at him.

"Yeah, yeah she is." Katey swallowed hard. "You know what you did was wrong. Katey you could have ruined your future by being with that boy…" Katey went to talk, "I am not saying that Javier was the problem, he was a nice boy, and to be honest, if my daughter had to get knocked up from someone, I would have wanted it to be him." Katey looked at the window, and softly let out a laugh as she wiped away a tear. "You know, from now on life isn't going to be easy. I will try to help you out as much as I can. I will pay for your apartment, of course it will be something small, maybe a little run down, I am going to do this so your mother doesn't see any substantial loss of money. I will send you $100 dollars a month, and I will pay for your hospital bills. I am sorry that I could not do more, but I have to think of your mother and Suzie too…"

"What you are doing is fine Dad. I mean, you could have left me with nothing." He put his hand on the back on my head, and rubbed it a little bit. Then he took the keys from the seat and put them into the ignition. He started the car and headed towards town. He stopped at a small place that was horribly run down.

"You will be staying here." He parked the car and got out. He opened the trunk to get out her bag. Katey slowly got out of the car. She looked hopelessly at the building, and followed behind her father. Her father went up to the landlord and gave him the first and last months rent. The landlord gave her father the keys and lead them up to an apartment on the fourth floor. Her father opened it up and looked inside. "It's not bad." He said as he picked off an inch of dust from the counter.

"Dad…"

"Look, I can't do much tonight. I brought a few blankets. I know we have some old furniture in storage. I will be back with Suzie tomorrow while your mother is at the country club. We'll make it more like home. I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow Katey." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then left.

Katey looked around her new house. Definitely not what she had expected. She began to look through the closets. In the one by the door there was a broom and a few hangers. She went into the kitchen and opened up a few of the cabinets. Nothing. She stood up and leaned on the counter. Where to start, there was so much to do. The apartment wasn't really that big of a space. There was one bathroom, 2 bedrooms, and a living room that connected with the kitchen. None of the floor was carpeted, just hardwood. This was never really going to be a problem for Katey, she didn't like carpet anyway. She thought again about what she needed. Towels. If she was going to stay there, even if it was for one night, it sure as hell wasn't going to be like this. She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Nothing. _Well isn't this just lovely_. She looked at the mirror. It wasn't in terrible shape it just needed to be cleaned up. She turned on the sink and a murky water came out. _Gross._

She walked across the hall to one of the neighbors and knocked on the door. A stout woman answered. "Hi, I am Katey I just moved in across the hall. I-I kind of found myself in a jam. I was wondering if you had any towels I could borrow."

"No." With that the lady shut the door. Katey was taken back a little bit. She looked up the stairs, took a deep breath and went on her search. By the end of her quest, she had a bucket, 3 towels, hand soap, and a twenty dollar bill (someone paid her to go away). She went into the apartment and set the supplies down.

"Well, this is never going to work." She went over to her bag and grabbed her purse. $30 dollars. She began to open up her bag, which was the bag that she used when she was traveling over the summer. She knew that she always kept some cash hidden in it, incase she wanted to buy something that she saw. $40. So when she put all the money together she had $90 dollars.

She took the keys and headed out. She headed down the stairs and saw the landlord there. "Hi there, I'm Katherine, You can call me Katey, I just moved in…"

"Yeah, you're the daddy's girl." Katey just backed away. "I am Robert, you can call me Robert." He extended his hand. She took it and shook it hesitantly. "If you need anything, just ask."

"Actually, do you have a pen?" He paused for a moment. "I just need to run some errands, I need to make a list." He went digging in his shirt pocket and pulled out a pen. "Thank you. I'll give this back to you…"

"Keep it."

"Thanks Robert."

She went outside the building and looked at the washed out flyers on the wall. She took one down and began to draw out her apartment. She roughly sketched out what it would look like and the supplies she needed. She went walking around the town looking for basic supplies. She bought some real soap, some books on plumbing, a dust pan, a rug, and the cheapest plates, utensils, and cups she could find. Then she thought about the next morning, food. She bought just enough. She bought a small thing of orange juice and saved a little bit for a diner that was not that far down from the apartment.

When she was completely honest with herself, she could see that the apartment wasn't that bad of a find. True, there were some that were better, but its location was nice. It was not that far from the stores, and it was near a park.

She went into the apartment and started to sweep the floors and mop. Then she started to wipe the counters off. Not realizing how late it was or how tired she had become. She fell asleep on the floor of the kitchen.


	3. A new love?

"Oh…." Katey Groaned as she got up from off the floor. "I can't believe I fell asleep." She looked at her wristwatch. They would be here soon. She opened up her bag and found an outfit she could work in. She took a bandana that she had and tied her hair up. She went to the refrigerator and grabbed her orange juice. She poured a glass and took a sip.

There was a knock at the door. She heard a key being slipped into the lock and turned. "Knock knock," she heard her father say.

"Hey." She said as she walked over to him."

"We brought you something." He held up a plate.

"Oh, thank you." She took it and placed it on the counter.

" Wow you really cleaned this place up." Her father said as he looked around.

"Are you kidding, I just did the basics." Katey turned around and saw her sister. Her face looked disgusted. "Suzie." She walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"You mean you have to live _here?_"

"Come on it's not _that_ bad."

"Katey I brought a few things, I'll go bring them up."

"I'll go and help you." They walked down the stairs and out the front door. Packed in the car she saw a nightstand and a few lamps.

"Here take this." Katey took the lamps as her father grabbed the nightstand.

"Do you need a truck?" They turned around and saw Robert standing in the doorway.

"Do you have one?" Robert held out his keys. "Thanks I'll get them after I put these up there,"

"Oh no you won't Katey. I will." She walked up to the apartment. Her father walked downstairs grabbed the keys and went to get more with Robert. Katey stood next to her sister.

"I can't believe this,"

"Neither can I." Katey walked over to her bag, next to it was a box. She picked it up and plugged it in. After opening the lid she placed a record on the player. "Shall we hear from Ms. Lola Martinez?"

"Who, _Lola_ Martinez?"

"Yes." She pulled out a record cover. Suzie took it and examined it.

"How did you-"

"I bought it before we left. Something to remember Cuba by." Suzie gave it back and nodded her head. Katey put the needle on the record and immediately the record started playing. Katey walked to the center of the room, between the kitchen and the living room and began to dance the routine as though Javier was still with her. How she missed him.

At the end of the song she and Suzie started dancing. Katey took a break and started to eat what her father brought, as Suzie tried to figure out how the routine went.

"Katey! I need help!" she could hear her father yell from the stairwell. Katey walked out of the doorway and saw her father trying to work a mattress up the stairs. Katey rushed to help. She lead it into the first bedroom. Robert started to come in with metal and his tool box.

"Come on you two. I need more help." Katey and Suzie followed him and made the many trips to get her things. By the time that everything was moved in and everyone had gone, the dysfunctional apartment began to seem more like home.

There was a table against the wall with 3 chairs, a couch and smaller sofa in the living room, a coffee table, two end tables with lamps on top of them. In the bedroom Katey's old bed and mattress with her dresser and desk. In the second was another dresser that had a diaper changer on it, and Katey's old crib.

Katey took out a book that she placed in the closet about plumbing and went into her bedroom to get the toolbox she had asked Robert to leave behind. She went into the bathroom and looked at the shower.

She opened the book and tried to get started. After a half an hour she got so frustrated that she threw the wrench at the ground and sat there.

Knock knock…Katey got up and answered the door. Standing there was a tall young man with brown hair.

"Excuse me, my name is Adam, I'm your neighbor downstairs."

"I know who you are. You gave me a twenty to go away yesterday."

"Oh, was that you? I'm sorry, yesterday just wasn't my day." He trailed off, then picked up the conversation again. "I heard something, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I got frustrated. I can't fix my shower. Every time I do something it still doesn't want to work"

"Really, here let me take a look." He walked past her and into the bathroom. He took the wrench from off the floor and started working. "You see… before I got…"He stopped and looked at her in the eyes, "before I went to school, I was a plumber."

"Oh really."

"Yeah… I'll have this done in no time." Katey stood at the end of the shower, as he worked they talked, about random things, neither of them revealing any big secrets, just small talk. He adjusted a pipe and suddenly the water began to spray out of the faucet. Spraying them instantaneously with ice cold water.

Katey squealed and tried to get out before getting any more wet. He turned the knob for the shower to the of position and looked at her soaking wet. "Why didn't you tell me you turned it on!" He said laughing. She looked at him and began laughing too. "Well, now that we know this works, is there anything else?" he said jokingly.

"Actually, if you don't mind, the sink doesn't work that well either. It-" he moved turned the sink. When he saw the sink spewing the black murky liquid he made a fake movement to puke in the toilet. "Yeah, it does that."

"Haha thank you for telling me before hand."

"Hey I tried right, but noooo, you wouldn't listen to me." He chuckled to himself and got to work on the sink. When he was finished, he looked at Katey.

"Is it possible, that I could see you again sometime?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll know when it happens." He nodded and headed towards the door. Katey followed him.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me Adam."

"No problem. Have a good day, Katey." She shut the door and collapsed on the couch.

A/n: So it looks like she may have found a new love… but what about the secret comment,I said earlier. Are they both hiding something? Ill she see him again? What will her life be like? Thanks for those who reviewed


End file.
